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Fota Wildlife is one of Irelands gems. Its an annual must do for our family and it will always be part of the boys childhood. We’re only an hour from Cork city so I have an eternal soft spot for the city and count, it being the centre point for so many of my own childhood memories and family days out.

I love a recipe that covers a multitude of meal time woes and the croquette really does that. They cover a side dish, a main, a lunch or even a breakfast. What ever meal or dish in your life needs a little inspiration or even just a little variety these may be just what you’re looking for!

The Toddlers in our lives are a far more complicated bunch than they would appear. They often talk and act a lot older than their age and sometimes even lull us into a false sense of not only maturity but of emotional understanding and even have us believing their comprehension is more developed than it is. This is totally normal and all part of that Toddler rollercoaster. When expectations are raised above their abilities, you can expect tantrums, meltdowns, aggression, screaming and no doubt tears! We’ve set our little toddlers up for failure. Toddlers can feel like a mystery from one day to the next fighting over which colour plate and tantrumming over what seems like the silliest of things. Today I’ll take one area of communication we as parents can nurture, in an attempt at reducing some of these toddler frustrations and in turn hopefully nurturing some positive behaviors

Communication; I think the ultimate source of frustration with this age group is communication. What’s the first thing you think of when I say communication? Talking, because they can’t talk or may not have much language yet and you would be right. What’s often forgotten though is communication also includes receptive language. What are they taking in of what you say? This is the one that really fools us parents. More often than not a parent of a toddler, during an In Home or Virtual Behavior consult with me, will say the following about their toddler “they understand everything”. Toddlers could receive Oscars for their amazing performances in understanding. Sometimes they do not take in all the language used in adult sentences but with gestures, routines and body language they get by really well and fool us into thinking “they understand everything”. This is when the “huge tantrum out of nowhere” occurs. So, my advice is…. in a situation you know they find difficult or somewhere they don’t like or don’t want to be, if it’s obvious they are in bad form, straight away reduce your language and cut all your sentences right down. Go from “guess where we’re going to go now? We are going to go to get into the car and go to the playground” to just three words “car and playground?” pair it with an upbeat tone, facials and body language. Never forgetting the age-old tip of stopping and getting down to their level and making eye contact. It’s a classic buts its essential. Remember if you want to be heard, minimize distractions. I don’t hear the full story my husband is telling me while scrolling on Instagram and likewise for a toddler glued to Paw Patrol mid theme song moments away from the big rescue! Therefore, take the necessary precautions to increase your chances of being listened to when you need to be heard. Toddlers don’t need nor understand abstract chitchat. If you are one hundred percent aware that they are a mini grenade about to go off….Reduce and minimize! Think Statements.

Hope this helps make someone’s day easier or even just helps someone understand their toddler a little better.

Easter is fast approaching and with it, the never ending dilemma of parents. Easter eggs! Which one to buy, how many to buy and what to do with all that chocolate once Easter is over. A MummyPages survey in 2016 showed that Irish children receive an average of 5 Easter eggs every year with a small percentage getting 10-15 Easter eggs. And parents are not happy about it with 91% of them rationing out the Easter chocolate and 51% of mums wishing to be consulted before family or friends gift an egg.

Easter is another of those events that children celebrate by the over-consumption of cheap chocolate and sweets. Selection boxes at Christmas, jellies and eye balls and chocolate coins and all manners of other awful sweets at Halloween and then Easter eggs. Many children think that Easter is in fact the Easter bunny’s birthday and have no idea of the real meaning of Easter (according to a very unscientific straw poll I did!). I despair when I see Tesco selling 3 Easter eggs for €5, making it very hard for parents and well-meaning friends and family to resist. But what benefit is this to our children in the long run? And don’t get me started on all that packaging …………

Over the years, I have gently reduced the number of Easter eggs my kids receive so that grannies and aunties and friends now know not to buy them eggs. I’m not a complete bah humbug (or should that be a maah humbug for the time of year? Geddit?!) and my children will get 1 or possibly 2 Easter eggs. If you’re visiting with friends and family this Easter why not bring the children an alternative to cheap, overpackaged chocolate. Here are my suggestions of alternative, reasonably priced gifts:

Accessories: Claire’s Accessories has a range of Easter themed gifts from Bunny Erasers for €4.99 to Bella the Bunny Glitter Mini-Pack for €24.99

Books: Check out your local book shop for Easter-themed books such as “We’re going on an Egg Hunt” €8.49 from www.schoolbooks.ie. A book is a great gift and it’s not just for Easter – it can be read all year around, as let’s face it, kids have no idea what time of year it is!! My Higher Shelf and Jackanory also have some fantastic titles to cover all ages.

Crafts: You can get some lovely Easter craft sets and the Art and Hobby Shop are always a great source of inspiration. They have Easter stickers starting at €0.99, sand art decorations for €5.99 and lots more. Not only are crafts sugar-free, they also occupy the kids for hours (if you’re lucky) or minutes (if you’re not so lucky!). www.artnhobby.ie and www.schooldays.ie for great craft ideas.

Cooking and Baking:You might have a little extra time with the kids at Easter to do some cooking and baking. www.stuff4cakes.ie has some cute Easter themed cookie cutting sets and you can use up some of the chocolate that the kids get in cakes and buns! Or you can get Kiddies Food Kutters which allow the children to chop food safely. Available at www.thecoolfoodschool.ie/shop

Plants: Buy a little plant or a pot and some seeds and get the kids planting. Lettuce are easy and quick to grow. Look at www.thegardenshop.ie for growing kits for kids as well as the cutest welly liners! Starting from €3.59

So there you have it – some suggestions for gifts you can share this Easter with the kids in your life that won’t send them into a sugar spin! Have you anything else to add to the list, tell me in the comments?

We all have to blow off steam and we all do it appropriately and inappropriately at times, whether its arguing with our partners as adults or throwing a tantrums as toddlers. We all have different ways of doing it appropriately too; some enjoy a glass of wine, a bath, some chocolate, a book, the gym, yoga. Kids are the very same.

Since Neds started playschool it has become more and more apparent that sometimes after playing by the rules they need to let loose. What do you mean playing by the rules i hear you say, the rules of school, society and community all new and novel to them. Don’t shout, run, talk, eat, drink, toliet now, colour here, stand there, hold hands, read this and so on. So after a few jam packed hours of learming societies expectations of you, you may have a little steam to blow off. As parents we need to facilitate that or they will seek it themselves! Sometimes they’ll seek it and it will be accomplished in an appropriate way and sometimes they wont and we then as parents pay the price trying to manage unwanted behaviour.

Flapjacks were a hit in our house long before babies. I originally got my recipe from one of my closest friends Kathy and its evolved with each baby into this recipe. I even had the ingredients out to make these one Sunday morning in preparation for Ned’s arrival into the world but they never got made because I went into labour with Ned that night a week early. This recipe is a hit with the whole family and covers so much during the week from playschool lunchboxes, snacks, swimming bag, tea break and breakfasts!